1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for the subscriber-initiated automatic subscription and modification of signed subscription contracts, for the administration of existing services as well as for the enabling of end apparatus in telecommunication networks, for example cellular mobile communication networks, for at least owners of cellular system subscription accounts based on access data already available at the network and subscriber ends, such as subscriber call number and access codes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The current method for enabling a subscriber device in cellular mobile communication networks, for example in a GSM network, takes place as described in the following. FIG. 1 serves for illustrating the sequence. A customer concludes at a vendors location (point of sale POS) a contract regarding the type, duration and payment of a subscriber contract with a mobile communication network operator (so-called mobile phone contract).
According to legal requirements in this connection an identity check is carried out after the personal identity card or the like has been presented. As a rule, this takes place at the time the contract is entered into. The end apparatus/mobile U.S. Patent Application of Walter Keller—Ser. No.: 10/181,539 Amendment—Art Unit: 2683 phone (to the extent such has been agreed) the customer takes home directly. However, as a rule, the customer cannot make a telephone call immediately.
From the point of sale (POS) the contract is conveyed to the mobile communication network operator. This is carried out in various ways, such as delivery by postal service, via Fax, Internet, Datex-P or the like. As the next step the contract is examined in the customer care area (CC) of the mobile communication network operator. Herein already existing signed contracts, misuse which might potentially have occurred, as well as the credit worthiness (solvency and payment ethics) of the potential customer are checked through optional access to an external credit worthiness data base (Schufa or the like). If the result is positive (no contract rejection), the required salient customer information (all identifying data required for the contract relationship) are created in the customer data base (CDB) of the customer care and billing system (CCBS).
The subscribed service is subsequently enabled and, as a rule, the customer receives a welcoming letter with user information.
The customer (GSM subscriber, subscriber S.S.) can now, in fact, use his new mobile telephone. A unique assignment of his subscriber call number (MSISDN) to the existing contractual subscription exists therein.
Most often there is an additional protection for the customer to prevent unauthorized use in the event the mobile phone is lost, which is of such type that the customer receives an additional code word which is required for switching on the end apparatus (personal identification number PIN). In the event the PIN is lost, the user is most frequently additionally given a further PIN, the co-called PUK (PIN Unblocking Key) for activating special network services. The latter is usually comprised of several characters and is not required for normal operation. It should be archived at the subscriber's end at a protected location in case it is needed. Each time a call is set up (or when the apparatus is switched on), the identifiers which are stored on the cell phone card (Subscriber Identification Module SIM) are verified against the input of the user and subsequently checked against the corresponding data in the GSM network. Herein the network refers back to the CCBS and the CDB. To accelerate the procedure, a portion of the network data are usually stored in the Home Location Register (HLR). If the subscriber has not transferred the mobile phone and PIN, identifying the end apparatus as well as the subscriber is thus possible with each call.
In this approach a two-stage identification and credit worthiness check is required when the contract is concluded and checked. However, it entails time-consuming and cost-intensive manual activities and thus leads to considerable disadvantages for all involved. The customer must be personally present at the POS, the sales personnel requires time for expensive and complicated discussions and carries out an identification card check. The CC process is also burdened with considerable expense and complexity.
In principle, there is no differentiation between whether or not the customer already has a signed subscription contract with the mobile communication network operator.
However, the potential for optimization is here given in the event a corresponding customer subscription already exists. In this case, all requirements for FüV [sic] and the credit worthiness check are already met and, in principle, verification of past payment ethics with the creation of the additional data sets in the customer data base are sufficient.